Grace Bomb: Fuel Supply
This week we heard Pastor Robbie speak about the numerous Grace Bombs found throughout the Book of Jonah!
This past Sunday, Pastor Robbie brought us a word on how we have been seeing Grace Bomb throughout Scripture without even realizing it - it’s everywhere! The way the church was structured from the beginning was set up for this very thing! We are deep in our Grace Bomb series and just in case anyone is joining us for the first time, for even more info than what we will be discussing here, you can find more information at their website here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
The majority of the message comes out of the very beginning of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesian Church, verses 3-13 specifically. Not only is it an extremely long run-on sentence (200+ words), but what it tells us we could probably spend weeks talking about! It begins with Paul literally praising God for what he has done through Jesus Christ, giving us access to ‘every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’. Praise God who has blessed us in Christ, being the keywords here. God the Father and us his children are inseparably united with Jesus - that is who we are, church. This connection that we have in Jesus, in Christ, is paramount to everything that we do in our lives, and we should be working to bring those around us into the same fold.
Pastor Robbie said, ‘It should be incredibly encouraging to us that God the Father thinks about you and treats you the way He thinks about and treats Jesus. God treats you, loves you, cares for you, gives to you the same way he would for his Son Jesus. Because when God sees you, he sees you and Jesus together. When he sees you, he sees you in Christ! We are inseparable from Jesus. Being in Christ, we have access to every possible heavenly benefit that Jesus has access to! Because we are in Christ, we get to experience God’s blessing, love, favor, connection, relationship.
Ephesians 1:4-6 says, ‘even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. in love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.’ We see here that not only does God view us in the same light as He views Jesus, we know that this was specifically apart of God’s sovereign plan! We have been chosen by God for the work and the mission that He started. We have been adopted into the family of God, into the Kingdom fo God - He has blessed us beyond measure with something we did not deserve but were given through the blood of Jesus! When we look at Scripture, we see a couple of ways that it talks about us coming into God’s family. One of those ways is a more natural-sounding way; that a person is born again in the Spirit, that there is a spiritual rebirth by trusting in Jesus - that something new and exciting happens inside our soul and we become a new creation. Jesus explains this in John, says we are reborn into God’s family. But we are also adopted. And I think he uses these different ways to describe coming into the family of God to display the width and breadth of this conversion. When you think about the idea of adoption, there’s a permanence there.
Paul’s Grace Bombing continues with verses 7-8 saying, ‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.’ The first part of that, redeemed - every single one of us has been in slavery to sin, and the penalty for that sin is death – but to be redeemed means we were bought back with a price. And in that redemption, we can find forgiveness. Our sins are carried away, that’s what forgiven means, and we are set free from their bondage. We are free from sin, free from shame, free from guilt, we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. His mercy and grace have blazed this path for us, as we accept that freedom, that forgiveness - verse 8 says he lavishes his riches on us!
So, what do you do with this picture of these Grace Bombs? Our identity in Christ. We have been chosen and adopted, redeemed and forgiven, we have been given wisdom and we have an inheritance, we are safe and secure - sealed with the Holy Spirit. What better way to share the grace of God with others than from a place where we’ve rested in the knowledge and wisdom of our identity in Christ. Pastor Robbie concluded in saying,
“It says three times in that passage “To the praise of his Glory” - God Grace Bombs to the praise of the glory of His grace – and that is our reason too – for God’s glory! Let your activity flow from your identity – you are sitting on a gold mine of blessing, an unlimited fuel supply – so go be a blessing!”
We have been Grace Bombed in so many ways by the very God that created us and saved us from our wickedness and unrighteousness. We have a duty to accept and understand what has been granted to us; this knowledge can empower us to go out and love others, to bless others, and Grace Bomb them with similar means of grace and love that God has shown each and every one of us!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Grace Bomb: Fuel Supply - Grace Bombs have been apart of God’s Work and Mission from the very beginning; we have been brought into God’s family to come alongside Him in what He has already done for us!
Main Scripture Verses: Eph. 1:3-13; 1 Cor. 15:21-22; John 6:44; John 8:24
Grace Bomb - In Christ: The first of many Grace Bomb that God dropped on us has specifically to do with the fact because of Jesus, we can be in right relationship with Him!
Grace Bomb - Chosen & Adopted: Not only are we ‘In Christ’ but we were chosen by Him for the mission that we have been given; among this, we have been adopted into God’s family and co-heirs with Jesus!
Grace Bomb - Redeemed & Forgiven: Being chosen by God and adopted into His family means that we have also been redeemed from our sinful ways and forgiven of our past transgressions!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we hear from Pastor Robbie continuing in our Grace Bomb series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
Grace Built People, Grace Bomb People
This week we had the honor of hearing from Pastor Patrick Linnell, Founder of Grace Bomb speaking about the motivation behind this movement!
This past Sunday, we had the privilege of welcoming Pastor Patrick Linnell from Bay Area Community Church in Annapolis, Maryland, and Founder of a new series called Grace Bomb that we are so excited to get behind. This message explains much of what Grace Bomb is and the motivation behind starting. For even more info than what we will be discussing here, you can find more information at their website here. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
We just got done with our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting to finish out the first month of 2020 strong, and this new series Grace Bomb has all of us very excited about what kind of impact we can continue to make in our community! ‘Grace Bombing’ people comes from a very specific verse in Scripture, one that is fairly popular but some of it seems to always be pointed at over the other. In Ephesians 2:8-10 we see, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’ We have been saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ - a give that was given to us. This is good, this is great in fact, but the part of the verse that may sound more familiar to you; but what about the latter part of the verse? We have been created in Christ Jesus for good works; not as a means of salvation, but as a display of loving-kindness to our fellow man - our good works shine Jesus’ light into the darkness of our world.
Not only have we been created for works, but we have been created for many things, as evidence of our salvation.
We are called to…
Abound – 2 Corinthians 9:8 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
Be Fruitful –Colossians 1:10 …walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…
Be Zealous – Titus 2:14 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Sacrifice – Hebrews 13:16 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Where ‘Grace Bomb’ comes in involves picking up physical cards with information that the recipient will be able to go to Grace Bomb’s website with more info about what has happened to them. The website explains, with a video from Pat Linnell, that what just happened was a selfless gift from a follower of Jesus, who wanted to bless them with a random act of kindness.
Pat explained the system that Grace Bomb operates on:
Load: Do your day, your everyday life; be conscious about taking your cards with you of the day.
Listen: Look and Listen for “the Nudge”. This is the Spirit’s prompting of your divine appointment to be able to bless your neighbor.
Let’er Go! Drop your Grace Bomb anonymously or face to face - whatever way it comes to mind, act and how to leave the message will be natural.
Grace Built People, Grace Bomb People - we have all been saved by grace, as a gift from God and we need to embrace our calling to bless those around us. We also can’t wait to be able to hear about the various stories of Grace Bombing, or being Grace Bombed - share your stories on Social Media, and encourage others to get involved!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Grace Built People, Grace Bomb People - Grace Built People, Grace Bomb People - we have all been saved by grace, as a gift from God and we need to embrace our calling to bless those around us.
Main Scripture Verses: Eph. 2:8-10; 2 Cor. 9:8; Col. 1:10; Titus 2:14; Heb. 13:16.
Grace Built People - We are all saved by grace through faith, this is a gift from God - we could not be who we are, nor do what we do without Jesus’ sacrifice.
Grace Bomb People - Because we are saved by grace, we should be actively seeking to extend grace to those around us - extend God’s love to anyone we come in contact with.
LOAD, LISTEN, LET’RE GO - Make sure to keep cards on you during your day, listen to the calling of the Holy Spirit for when to drop a Grace Bomb - finally, go through with it and drop your Grace Bomb!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we hear from Elder Adam Weyer, continuing in our Grace Bomb series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
2020: Vision Leads to Victory
To conclude our 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting, Ps. Robbie spoke about our Vision and Identity as a Church being fueled solely by who God has called us to be In Christ!
This past Sunday we continued in our time of Vision-Casting for what the church stands by on a core, foundational level. Pastor Robbie spoke about the reality that Vision is what Leads us to Victory; our next series, Grace Bomb was also introduced, see what that is about here. We also hope that your participation in our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting is going well - if you’re not familiar with what we’re talking about, check out our different plans at legacycity.church/21days and join us in this time of dedicated spiritual practice! If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
We have now entered into our final week of Legacy City Church’s 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, and we are so excited to see what God is doing in everyone’s lives over this very intentional time. So many different people have joined us in so many different ways of doing this. Some of us are doing a more secular fast i.e. not spending time watching TV, or not spending time on Social Media; others of us are getting more physical with this time, doing fasts like a Jewish fast (only eating when the sun goes down) or a Vegetarian-type fast (only eating fruits, vegetables, and nuts). No matter what you feel God calling you towards, we hope that by giving up many different good things in your life, you are able to find more unique times to spend with God in prayer! As Luke 4:1-4 also declares, We’re not called to live by bread alone but by the spirit of the Lord! He provides for us, he sustains us, he satisfies us - and let me tell you church, it is so incredible to get to a place where you not only know that in your head, but you feel that in a very real way in your spirit! So, let me challenge you, take up the prayer and fasting over these last 7 days. Go longer if you want, but for these next 7 days, commit to praying and giving something up to see God move in your life, in the body of this church, and in this community.
Ps. Robbie stayed in Joshua 14 throughout most of the sermon and brought out some incredible points to be made from the journey the people of Israel went through. The first main section we went through was verses 6-8 saying, ‘Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.’ We have to keep in mind here, after wandering in the desert, after fleeing from Egypt, the people of Israel have come up on the Promised Land after being supernaturally led through such a journey. Knowing what power God possesses when they were led through the desert by way of a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night, 10 of the 12 spies Moses sent to scout out the land doubted their ability to be able to take the land - they ‘made the hearts of the people melt’ meaning they convinced them of their inability. 10 out of the 12 that Moses appointed to scout out the land came back with a flawed and incomplete vision of the task that they had been given by God through Moses - their lack of vision directly affected their ability to succeed. We see this even further in Joshua 14:9-15, particularly in verse 10 saying, ‘And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.’
“You see, Caleb could have been viewing things a negative way. But he chose to have a positive vision, a Godly vision that would lead to victory. He chose to see that God was leading him through the desert, that God had promised this land to him, that God had kept him alive when all of of his other friends and older family members had died out. Even when he says in verse 10 that Israel walked/wandered in the wilderness - did you catch that? He didn’t say I wandered, he said Israel wandered. Yes he was right there with them, but there’s a difference - Israel was wandering, Caleb was waiting.” - Ps. Robbie
In this same section, we see Caleb embodying an identity that was very unique among the 12 spies (along with Joshua then).
Caleb knows who he is, he knows his identity. He’s a follower of God.
Joshua 14:8 - ‘But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.’ He’s strong in the Lord.
Joshua 14:11 - ‘I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming.’ He knows exactly who he is.
That’s what allows him to view things through the filter he has. That’s what gives him the perspective he needs. If he didn’t know the Lord, he couldn’t see things that way.
‘You have to know your identity. In fact, I said Identity is important for victory, but in actuality, identity is crucial for victory. There is but one way to the Father, and that’s through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.’ - Ps. Robbie
To conclude the sermon, our Core Values were discussed and reiterated, that you can find listed at legacycity.church/vision - leaving us with this resounding declaration,
“This is who we are, who we believe that God has called us to be. And this year, we believe that we are taking new ground. We believe that it’s time to take the land and advance the gospel in this community and elsewhere. We hope you’ll join us not just on the journey, not sitting by and watching the journey unfold, but I hope you’ll get involved. You’ll begin to take on and live out the vision of this church.” - Ps. Robbie
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
2020: Vision Leads to Victory - Our ability to see God working in our lives, and in the lives of those around us enables us to accept the identity given to us by the blood of Jesus - we are called to walk in a mode of living unlike any other people; embracing our calling is our path to victory!
Main Scripture Passages - Luke 4:1-4; Joshua 14:6-15
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Go to legacycity.church/21days for more details! We hope to Humble Ourselves, Seek God, Hear from Heaven, and Dwell in His Kingdom’s power during this time!
Vision is Important for Victory - Without a proper vision of who God is, what He has done, and what He has called us to be, we cannot dwell in the mode of living needed to push onward to victory!
Identity is important or Victory - Without a proper vision, we cannot embrace a proper identity in Christ. We have seen God work in many majestic ways through Joshua, and His identity unto God played such a critical role in this coming about!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we continue our 2020 vision casting series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
2020: Creating A Culture
Continuing our 2020 series, Pastor Robbie checked in with us going into the second week of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting; in the true sense of 2020 Vision-Casting, we discussed the culture that makes up the core of Legacy City Church!
This past Sunday we entered into a time of vision casting for what the church stands by on a core, foundational level. Pastor Robbie declared our identity as a church, what we have stood for, and how to how we plan to embody them even better this year! If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday! We also hope that your participation in our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting is going well - if you’re not familiar with what we’re talking about, check out our different plans at legacycity.church/21days and join us in this time of dedicated spiritual practice!
We entered into the second week of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting this week - so many different people have joined us in so many different ways of doing this. Some of us are doing a more secular fast i.e. not spending time watching TV, or not spending time on Social Media; others of us are getting more physical with this time, doing fasts like a Jewish fast (only eating when the sun goes down) or a Vegetarian-type fast (only eating fruits, vegetables, and nuts). No matter what you feel God calling you towards, we hope that by giving up many different good things in your life, you are able to find more unique times to spend with God in prayer!
This week Pastor Robbie spoke about the many different things that make up Legacy City Church’s culture throughout many core tenets of our mission as a church, and the many phrases that instill these core tenets in a more natural way including specifically: Church is a People, Not a Place; Ministry Happens Better in Circles Than in Rows; and Our City, Our Responsibility!
“For far too long the church has been known for what it’s against, we want to be known for what we’re for! God, Kingdom, People, City. The next generation, the unchurched and dechurched, the least, the last, and the lost.” - Ps. Robbie
Church is a People, Not a Place. We say this all of the time! You see it when you come in on a banner, we have it on a t-shirt. But what does it mean? Because, when the word “church” comes up in conversation, the first thing we think of is a building. Depending on how you grew up or how long you’ve been in church, your mental image of the word “church” might be pews and steeples and red or green carpet. We have this mindset that church is a place we go to on Sundays, and it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we aren’t just going to church; we are the church. The church is a people not a place and God is building his church! Scripture always refers to the Church as a body of people who, in covenant relationship seek to further the Kingdom of God here in this world. 1 Peter 2:5 states, ‘You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ Ourselves, as individuals and as a collective body are being built up as a spiritual household - we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, we dwell in the same household now! Not only living under the same spiritual roof, but we have been called to take action in our lives and communities; 1 Tim. 5:16-17 specifically calls us to this saying, ‘If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.’. We are called to care for those who need it, and when we come together and provide for each other, this love naturally spreads to all those around us, in all of our walks of life.
The second main point that Ps. Robbie spoke on is this American idea of solely individual faith and corporate experience. We believe that Ministry and the Christian Life happens much better in Circles rather than in Rows. We’re told things like:
‘Go in your room, shut the door, and study.
Master the art of "quiet time"—just you and God.
Read a book - by yourself.
Put headphones on and listen to a podcast - by yourself.
Go sit on a hammock and pray - by yourself.’
Do any of these sound familiar to you? This is how many people in our community understand the church and the Christian life to be - this isn’t what Scripture tells us! From the very beginnings of the church in Acts, we see something very different. Acts 2:42-47 states, ‘And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together (church gathering like this) and breaking bread in their homes, (smaller groups, circles) they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.’ This doesn’t really look like those phrases we looked at above, does it? Here at Legacy City, we want ‘community’ to be apart of each and everything that we do!
The last major cultural phrase and point made this past Sunday was ‘Our City, Our Responsibility’. One question, do you believe that God has planted you here in this community, that God has a distinct and specific purpose for you being in the Greenwood/Abbeville area? Scripture tells us that no matter where we are, no matter what situation we are in, we have been planted here for a purpose - this purpose is a holy purpose, to impact people for the Kingdom of God! In Jeremiah 29 we see this exact situation - while we are not facing exile in a foreign land like the people of Judah/Israel were, we see a very clear call from God that they were to seek prosperity for where they were being taken. Verses 5-7 tell us, ‘Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.’ Even during such an unfortunate time as the exile, the people of God were told to impact their communities for His sake, and their own sake.
Our calling Church, is to be ambassadors for the sake of the Gospel where we have been planted. We need to declare that a building is not the body of believers at large, we need to declare that we should actively be doing life together for our own edification and for the sake of others in community, and we need to embrace the place that God has rooted us - this mission is not about us, but for the glory and honor of the God that brought us out of darkness!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
2020: Creating A Culture - We don’t want to merely be a church that sits back and is passive about letting you and everyone in our community what we are about. We believe we’re doing things a bit differently than some church communities, our Culture is based on Scripture and empowered by You!
Main Scripture Passages - 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Tim. 5:16-17; Acts 2:42-47; Jer. 29:5-7
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Go to legacycity.church/21days for more details! We hope to Humble Ourselves, Seek God, Hear from Heaven, and Dwell in His Kingdom’s power during this time!
Church is a People, Not a Place - Many times, people will associate the ‘Church’ with a building or meeting place - this isn’t what Scripture tells us! The Church is made of believers, without believers there is no Church.
Ministry Happens Better in Circles Than in Rows - While we certainly value the great preaching we get to hear from Pastor Robbie, our Elders, and others - the core of ministry should be done living life together outside of corporate service. We believe that community is needed for ministry to be most effective.
Our City, Our Responsibility - Most of us live in the Greenwood area, be that Greenwood proper, or maybe even out in Abbeville - we have been planted here for a reason, we need to own ur place here and impact each and every person we can for the sake of the Gospel!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we continue our 2020 Vision-Casting series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
2020: Known For What We're For
To kick off our 2020 series, Pastor Robbie initiated our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, and declared part of Legacy City’s core-function as a church - To Be For God, and For His People!
This past Sunday we entered into a time of vision casting for what the church stands by on a core, foundational level. Pastor Robbie declared our identity as a church, what we have stood for, and how to how we plan to embody them even better this year! If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
So many people, when the new year comes around will want to set for themselves ‘New Years’ Resolutions’ so that they can work towards something to better themselves and their lives. We decided to do this too, but it is probably different than what most would consider a typical approach to the New Year - we are going before the Lord with intentional prayer and fasting, to strengthen our relationships with Him and watch God do some incredible things in the lives of His children! Pastor Robbie started off saying, ‘We are going to, as a church, pray in unity for the next 21 days, and also fast together. I know, you might think we already pray a lot, we are a praying church. From Day 1, we said that this would be a house of prayer. And I think we’ve honored that, but the question that comes to mind of not just this church, but all believers, is do we really dedicate significant time to fasting? Some of you from more liturgical backgrounds might give up something for Lent, like chocolate or soda, but I’m talking about true fasting.’ This sense of ‘true fasting’ is a means of purposefully depriving ourselves of typically good things (food, entertainment, distractions) so that we can use this time instead to focus on our relationship with God. This is not something new, and it’s unfortunate that it has become something that believers are not accustomed to; historically, fasting has been apart fo the church from the very beginning! This isn't an accident, because Jesus modeled this for us in His life, and assuming that His disciples would follow in the same manner (Matt. 4:2; 6:16-18). We hope to be able to humble ourselves, seek after a deeper relationship with God, understand His Kingdom more deeply, and hear from God during these times!
A phrase that we have used since the earliest days fo Legacy City is this: We are for God and his Kingdom. We are for people and this city. We are for God, Why? Well, first of all, because God is for us.
Psalm 56:9 - Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.
Psalm 118:6 - The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Ezekiel 36:9 - For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.
Romans 8:31 - What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Our God is for us. He is about us.
We are for God. We are about God. For far too long the church has been known for what it’s against, we want to be known by what for. That’s why our statement simply says we are For this and For that. And our # is ForGreenwood. This church is for a lot of things; we love to worship, we love serving, we love being generous, we love the community - but first, and foremost, we are for God because frankly, he’s for us. This Kingdom is about bringing God’s glory to light in a dark and fallen world - it is made up of His children, of us! A healthy kingdom has people that are thriving and taken care of - this is something that we believe should a primary concern of ours.
We are also for people. We believe that God is for people, so we are for people. We are for all people. Not just people that come to this church. Not just people that have the same gender or race or socioeconomic status as us. All people. Because God is for all people. Pastor Robbie, near the conclusion of the message, left us a bombshell of truth, saying, ‘It absolutely breaks my heart to know that there are people that feel like they will get rejected if they even try to go into a church. I don’t care where someone was born or what gender they identify as or how much drugs they did the night before if there is ONE place where they should feel loved and welcomed, it should be the House of the Lord! It should be us! We claim to walk with the God who IS love! If WE, who have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love living in us, cannot show love to people no matter what walk of life they come from or decisions they may have made, then hope is lost. Because here it is church, people won’t know Jesus is FOR them if they don’t know that we are FOR them. And it has to go beyond prayers. Prayers are great, but this needs to be tangible. If we are for people, it needs to show.
This is where we are planted, church. This is where God has put us.
We plan to leave a Jesus legacy in every city that God calls us to reach!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
2020: Known What We’re For - This is where we are planted, church. This is where God has put us. And we are going to pray for this city, serve this city, love this city, and then when he calls us to spread influence and plant in another city, we are going to do the same thing because we are for the cities and the communities that God places us in.
Main Scripture Passages - Matthew 4:2; 6:16-18; Psalms 56:9; 118:6; Ezekiel 36:9; Romans 8:31; James 1:27; Matthew 25:37-40; Jeremiah 29:4-7
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Go to legacycity.church/21days for more details! We hope to Humble Ourselves, Seek God, Hear from Heaven, and Dwell in His Kingdom’s power during this time!
We Are God and His Kingdom, We Are for People and This City - “This church is for a lot of things; we love to worship, we love serving, we love being generous, we love the community - but first, and foremost, we are for God because frankly, he’s for us. He set the bar pretty high with creation, then he set it higher with salvation, so we are going to be for him, about him and his glory in all that we do. We are here to serve all people, because God loves all people, period.
The Kingdom & The People - The Kingdom of God encompasses a lot of different things, but Jesus ushered it in, and we are dwelling in it because of our relationship with Him; we want everyone we come in contact with to know of the glory and majesty of God’s Kingdom - our Mission is to make His name known and to serve those whom He loves!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we continue our 2020 vision casting series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
Happy Birthday Legacy City!
Pastor Robbie casts a broad vision for where Legacy City has been the past two years, and where we are trusting God to take us this upcoming year!
This past Sunday we departed from our typical transition into a new series and celebrated the successes that God has brought Legacy City these past two years. Not only looking back but Pastor Robbie also cast a tremendous vision for what we are praying for God to do this upcoming year! If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
Being as young of a church as we are, there are certain obstacles that we faced when we started - especially given the very unorthodox way we got started. Most churches have a ‘ramp-up’ of organizational support ranging from funds and resources to trained personnel to help with the whole process; Legacy City did not have any of these things, we trusted God to provide what was needed to begin a church that would be For Greenwood, and He came through for us big-time! Being able to look back on two years of ministry for young churches is a big milestone, and we hope to be able to continue to meet them going forward! We hope that you ave enjoyed what time you have been with us, and hope to be able to provide what spiritual and community needs you desire; we believe that Church should be enjoyed, not endured!
Going into this new decade, 2020, Pastor Robbie cast a specific vision that he will be covering in much more detail in our next series, but he gave three overall points of focus that we hope to be able to embody this coming year. The first of which is to be a ‘Naming Community’ this idea comes from Isaiah 43, in that we have all been called by name, we have been called out into the grace of God, that he would heal and fill our hearts - establishing a unique sense of fellowship and community among all those who would call themselves believers. Acts 2:42-47 describes this sense fo community as something that we are called to saying, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” This is a perfect example of fellowship. Many say it’s too perfect, unattainable even. We think this could be attainable, this level of community. We’re not advocated dropping Netflix or Disney + or anything, we’re just saying there’s a difference between us not being able to do something and us not being willing.
This upcoming year we are also going to continue to work towards a more total and complete identity of being a house and community of healing. We want to be a people of restoration, renewal, refreshing in our soul. We started out like this without realizing it. God started to bring in those who were de-churched. They had been hurt by the church or had left the church long ago for whatever reason. Some had moved here and just couldn’t find a place to worship until we started up. One of those probably encompasses your situation, but if it doesn’t that’s okay too - the community does not have to be founded on negative situations, but we are more than willing to receive people where they are. In Matthew 8:22-25 we see Jesus healing a man of blindness, and there is much to be learned from this situation beyond faithfulness - we see Jesus’ process live and in-action. Jesus receives the individual where they are, personally engages with the person, and then heals them. We hope to be able to continue to improve our model of engaging with those in our immediate church community, but also those who we are able to serve in Greenwood abroad. The whole process should be moving towards healing and restoration, through a relationship with God.
To conclude our summary of vision casting for 2020, Pastor Robbie spoke on the need for us as a church to be mobile towards people in our communities! We are to be a sent people, not a complacent and stagnant people on a church-wide level to a personal level. Jesus calls the disciples. He brought them in, he gave them a purpose, and then one verse later (after he names them all), he sent them out. They were blessed to bless, they were healed to heal, but Jesus saves and sends all within one verse (Matthew 10:1). Ephesians 3:10 displays God's purpose in all of this was to use the church to display his wisdom and its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Jesus sent out the disciples, didn't he? And how did he do it? Two by two, you're better together; we are sent people, God's strategy for mission. We have a next level that we are trying to reach this year. We are believing God for some big things and can’t wait to join with you in accomplishing them!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Happy Birthday, Legacy City: The first two years of Legacy City Church has been an incredible journey of faithfulness and unification, this next year, however, we hope to be even more excellent - we are shooting for big things, and we hope that you will be apart of them in 2020!
Main Scripture Passages: Ephesians 1:18; Isaiah 43; Acts 2:42-47; Matthew 8:22-25; Ephesians 3:10.
We Are To Be: A Naming Community - We as a church, and as believers have been called in a community with unique distinctions; we have been called by name for the Mission of God, we need to take hold of this identity in 2020!
We Are To Be: A House of Healing - We have prided ourselves on being a community that welcomes any and everybody, including those who were hurt by the church, we want to continue to grow into a community that supports people through all trials in life.
We Are To Be: A Sent People - Jesus did not come for us as believers to be merely healed and then stop there, we are meant to go and bring others into this saving knowledge and relationship - we must go out and be the hands and feet of Christ!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we begin our vision casting series for 2020!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
Wonderful Anticipation - The Spirit of Hope
Pastor Robbie concludes our Christmas series, Wonderful Anticipation by speaking about the Spirit of Hope out of Luke 2!
This past Sunday we concluded our Christmas series called Wonderful Anticipation, a series that followed the Church’s tradition of Advent. There are many different things that Advent represents. Pastor Robbie spoke about the Spirit of Hope, speaking from Luke 2. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
Where in your history does Christmas and hope collide? Has there ever been an explicit connection between Christmas and Hope in your mind? Christmas, the day we remember the birth of the Messiah, should have a very defined sense of hope assigned to it. From the earliest times in Scripture, we see God promising that He will send a solution to the severed relationship between Him and mankind. Throughout history, we see God maneuvering events, people, and actions all of which were needed to lead up to Jesus of Nazareth, from the line of David, to be born of humble means to live a perfect life, die, and then conquer death itself. Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we have life, and we have a relationship with the Lord and Creator of our world; all of which, begins at Jesus’ birth - on Christmas, the day we celebrate this event. The fulfilled Hope of the Messiah coming is the greatest hope of all!
Reading from most, if not all of Luke 2, Pastor Robbie speaks immediately to the actuality of what this Hope is, saying, “You see, this wonderful thing happens in the Christmas story. God our Father, in all of his awe and majesty, sees us in our weakness and He decides to crouch down, to come down on our level, and He gets down and He sends his Son into this world to look us in the eye, to affirm us. Then He does something right there, He decides to give us hope...and it’s not just this delusional hope; it’s not this hope that is focused on self-centered desires, this is a hope that can only be fulfilled in an all-consuming God. It is a hope to give us strength in the middle of our mess. And when we receive this hope into our lives, something happens. That hope is only in the person of Jesus Christ. Something happens in us and we change. It’s a change that comes within us. It is not a change in our circumstances, but it is a change in the way we perceive our circumstances.
The process that families go through to have children, is very simple, while equally complicated - this is true for our time and in the time of Mary and Joseph. In Luke 2:22-24 we learn that Mary presents 2 turtledoves for part of the necessary cleansing rituals for having a birthing a child; we learn uniquely that Mary would have been of humble means, to put it kindly - she and her husband would have been quite poor. I think a lot of us here find ourselves in the place where we are ashamed or embarrassed because we don’t feel like we are living up to be the person that we could or we should be. We feel like our life is insignificant and we come to this moment in Scripture. We come to this instance when the woman with the least to give gives the greatest gift of all; when the woman with little or no means gives the greatest meaning to the world. I don’t want to stop short on this point right here, this is a powerful point. The greatest gifts in our lives are not the biggest gifts, are they? All of us can attest to this idea.
There are three things that we can learn specifically about Hope from Luke 2, and several other passages addressed in this sermon. 1) Hope Always Brings Peace; 2) Hope Fulfilled Usually Comes in a Different Form than Hope Prayed For; 3) Hope Always Starts in the Infancy Stage. All of these points bring about a unique sense of tension in Scripture because Hope ‘realized’ is different than Hope ‘to come’ - they’re not contingent on each other. Is. 43:19 says ‘See I am doing a new thing…Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” While 1 Peter 1:3 states “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” In the first verse speaks to what is to come, the hope of the Christ that is coming - while the second is a come to pass truth, the fulfilling of the hope actualized into salvation for many.
True Hope has no end, and the hope that we have been given through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most eternal hope available to us. As we spoke about earlier, many of us may not think of ourselves as hopeful or ‘Christmas’ to be most pleasant of times, however, The point is this – all of us, when confronted with the presence of hope and the presence of Jesus Christ, our challenge is to rebuild hope within us. Then we are challenged before God to actually hope, that hope is deferred, but if we are willing to hang on, there can be this explosion of life. Christmas is coming, and a celebration of hope is necessarily what this day is about - not family, or presents, but the arrival of the Messiah!
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays - You Are Loved!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Wonderful Anticipation - The Spirit of Hope: The primary culmination of Christmas itself, is the anticipation of the Christ-child that will bring about hope for a renewed relationship with God, available to all people.
Main Scripture Passages: Luke 2; Isaiah 43:19; 1 Peter 1:3
Hope Always Brings Peace: Hope without assurance for something to come, it not peace at all - peacefulness comes from Hope, especially the Perfect Hope of Christ.
Hope Fulfilled Usually Comes in a Different Form than Hope Prayed For: The People of Israel long thought that their Messiah would be a military leader, to save them from their enemies - Christ came for different reasons, but saved them and us nonetheless.
Hope Always Starts in the Infancy Stage: The Peace that Hope brings is not always immediate, dwelling on God’s promises allows us to lean into what the Holy Spirit desires for us to know - the seed of Hope is powerful and can develop into something unwavering.
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we Celebrate our 2 Year-Anniversary!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
Wonderful Anticipation - The Spirit of Peace
Pastor Robbie kicks off our Christmas series, Wonderful Anticipation by speaking about the Spirit of Peace surrounding the coming Messiah in Isaiah 11!
This past Sunday we started our Christmas series called Wonderful Anticipation, a series that will be following the Church’s tradition of Advent. There are many different things that Advent represents, and some things that we should not associate with it. Pastor Robbie began by speaking about the Spirit of Peace, as told in Isaiah 11:1-9. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
Coming up on the Holiday season, and particularly the Christmas season, the day celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, gets closer and closer. For some of us, this can be an incredibly joyous time, while others of us wish everything wasn’t so busy and stressful. The celebration of Jesus’ birth is important, and something that Christians have been doing throughout the centuries. The problem is, in our culture, that in our rush to celebrate the fun stuff and even to celebrate the Birth of Christ, we want to hurry up and get to the big day. The church, historically, has used this time not to speed up, but to slow down, to slow down and to actually feel the angst and the longing, the anticipation of the coming Christ. Historically, this time has not been an overly busy one for believers, but the exact opposite in-fact. Ps. Robbie stated that ‘the most descriptive word I could use to describe this season is anticipation. That’s really one of my favorite aspects of Christmas, it’s the anticipation, the wonderful anticipation. You look forward to it and that really is at the core of what Advent is. The word literally means coming. It is an anticipation of the second coming of Christ by us reflecting on the first coming of Christ, or Christmas.
Most of the sermon specifically surrounded Isaiah 11:1-9, but some context is needed to really be able to appreciate what’s going on here. At this point in the people of Israel’s history, split up into two nations (Israel and Judah) and both of them are being judged by God for their continued sinfulness. Both of these nations will eventually be taken in exile by either Babylon or Assyria and God’s wrath and judgment will come upon them for their injustice and faithlessness. From the earliest book of the Bible, multiple covenants with God have been made, and even though the people of Israel are being judged and taken into exile, this does not mean God does not intend to fulfill those promises! The Messiah is still coming, and the unique expression of the ‘Spirit of the Lord’ surrounding this coming figure is unlike anyone before it.
Isaiah and many other prophets talk about the nature of the coming Messiah, but the book of Isaiah, in particular, gives us a unique insight into God’s character and the Servant’s also. The Spirit of the Lord is described by ‘And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.’; these traits, when acted on perfectly bring about true and genuine peace - this would have been a tremendously encouraging promise to those living in exile! Isaiah 11:5 says this ‘Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.’ - the Messiah is literally clothed in that which is righteous and faithful to God, peace necessarily comes through this figure! Jesus quite literally produces peace through everything that he intends to do - this isn’t always the most clear, but this always comes out to be true! Psalm 34:14 reiterates this idea as something that each and every one of us should be pursuing for ourselves saying, ‘Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.’ The power of the Holy Spirit in us calls us forward, away from evil and into good, away from chaos and into peace!
Ps. Robbie powerfully concludes with, ‘Peace is not so much about a state of affairs that we live in. It has everything to do with the state of being that you rest in. The Holy Spirit is the true spirit of Christmas and He is the Spirit of Peace. He brings peace to us and as we reflect and as we elevate and celebrate the character of Christ and we ask the Holy Spirit to conceive that character within us, as we rely on the power of God to bring together those things that don’t belong together; as we allow our lives to point to Christ, we may be able to see a window of that peace that is promised.’
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Wonderful Anticipation - The Spirit of Peace: The spirit of Christmas should surround the anticipation of the second coming of Jesus, by celebrating His first coming!
Main Scripture Passages: Isaiah 11:1-9; Psalm 34:14
Advent is Important in the Christian Church: Advent is not about the hustle and bustle that we often experience during this time, but about focusing on our anticipation and longing for Jesus’ ‘second’ coming by remembering His ‘first’ coming.
The Christ Child will be the Source of Peace: The coming of the Messiah is something that each and every Israelite should have been looking forward to, for He would bring about peace in their lives and in the world around them!
Peace is about a restored order, the way that God intended it to be: Sin destroyed so much in our lives and in the way our world operates, we can break away and free from the bondage and damage that pure chaos can bring in our lives; peace is as much about restoring God’s originally intended order as it is about how we get to dwell in it.
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we continue our Wonderful Anticipation Series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
Self-Care - The Drains of Our Lives
Pastor Robbie concludes our Self-Care series speaking about some of the draining aspects of our lives!
This past Sunday we concluded our Self-Care series where we're going to look at some of the Scriptural teachings about how you can be a better you and experience a better self-care as it relates to your mind, body, soul, spirit, and rest in general. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday! This week we addressed the subject of different things in our lives distracting us and causing distress when what Christ modeled for us is a life of peace.
When we take a look at our lives in the modern world, we see a lot of innovations that have completely changed the way that our lives operate, especially when compared to the days of Jesus’ ministry. Instead of having to walk everywhere (for the most part), most of us have access to some form of transportation that those during Jesus’ day would have never thought possible! There are many examples of positive changes and innovations, but there are also many negative ones, that when misused or mishandled, can cause a lot of distress in our lives. Consider this for a moment, the last time you were at a concert, or maybe traveling somewhere - how much time were you spending on your phone instead of taking in the experience and being ‘in the moment’ per se? Our phones, for example, are something with incredible power and accessibility to so many things in our lives today, but they can take away from life as much as they give.
Pastor Robbie started off with a pretty powerful statement, and it really sets the tone for what we are about to get into, saying, “In fact, just like it’s possible for a battery in your phone to get drained, many of us walked into the room this morning, and there are things, in addition to the phone and our constant distractions that come from it, that is draining the life out of you. They're draining the joy out of you, the peace out of you, and it is not the way God wants you to live.” Much of the sermon surrounded Luke 10:38-42 which describes an encounter Mary, Martha, and company had with Jesus’ in Martha’s home. Martha is working tirelessly with managing the affair, while Mary is captivated by what Jesus is saying and takes the time to sit and learn from Him. Martha did not take kindly to this, as she was busy doing all of the necessary tasks to make everything go smoothly; Mary, however, is praised for her devotion to what Jesus is speaking about. Mary and Martha, their roles depicted in this story are what we will be addressing here.
The first ‘Drain’ in our lives, and something that each and every one of us is prone to dealing with - Distractions. If you were not able to join us this past Gathering, we hate that you missed such an incredible little prop-heavy example of Pastor Jordan. While Ps. Jordan was doing a little physical activity, Ps. Robbie continually kept stacking different objects on top of him that are priorities such as a coffee cup (working at Starbucks); a guitar (worship); a bible (personal faith); a Datebox (healthy marriage) and 3-4 other things. To say the least, this is one example of a slew of priorities being managed up until there was simply too much and everything came tumbling down! At the end of the day, you have a million things that are going to fight for your attention, and the question before you and me is, "Jesus, what do you want from me right now?" The way you and I can have focus from distraction is by focusing not on all that needs to be done, not on everything around me, but "What does Jesus want from me today?" Many of the distractions that we experience are good things, but at the end of the day they are still distractions; being conscious of managing our priorities in life will save us from dropping the ball on our many important tasks in life.
The second ‘Drain’ in our lives is likely a product of what we have addressed already - Distress from anxious and overwhelming thoughts and experiences. Calling back to Luke 10:38-42 we look at something that Jesus said to Martha in verse 41 saying, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things…’ There are three things that Ps. Robbie talked about that cause these kinds of situations: Comparison, Sin, and Circumstances. It can be through comparison about what others have, about what I don't, about how much he's making and where I should be in life right now, about how they have children and I should have those or they're married already and I wish I was or they're in a dating relationship and I wish I was… By comparison, all of a sudden, you can experience stress. A lot of the most stressful situations that are weighing many of us down inside this room are related to sin. That is a stressful thing, and it kind of gnaws at you. You're carrying a burden you were never meant to carry. That's just a fact of living in a broken world. Somebody is going to get cancer. Marriages don't go the way we hoped they would. The company has a layoff and you lose your job, and you can feel burdened from carrying on these circumstances and the stress that comes from living in a broken world. But can I give you some good news today? Whatever burdens you are carrying, they all have the same solution. Surrender those burdens to Jesus, to God. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
We will leave with a positive affirmation that cannot be lost in all of this; above all of the distractions and distress that is in our lives, our Devotion to Christ, Brings Life! The point of this story is not Jesus is against go-getters. That's not what he says at all. The point is: he wants a relationship with you above everything else. He wants you to know him and him to know you beyond you just serving him and doing things for him. He wants a relationship, a constant connection with him. In other words, every second that it's not connected, plugged into the wall to a phone charger, it's going to continue to drain. This is how the Christian life is lived.
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Self-Care - The Drains of Our Lives: There are many different things that contribute towards us being drained in life, and Scripture speaks to this specifically!
Main Scripture Passages: Luke 10:38-42; Ps. 127:2; 1 Peter 5:7
Drain #1 - Distractions: Sometimes our responsibilities and desires in modern life hinder us more than they help us, having discernment as to which ones are necessary or desired helps us manage our priorities.
Drain #2 - Distress: With mismanaged priorities in our lives, we can cause ourselves a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety that we never intended.
Positive Affirmation - Devotion to Christ, Brings Life: When we are looking at and addressing our list of priorities in life, our devotion to Christ must be among the highest on that list; intentional rest and peaceful life is what Jesus models for us.
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as Pastor Robbie begins our Holiday(s) Series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!
Self-Care - Cleaning Out Your Closet
Pastor Robbie continues our series on Self-Care, focusing on dealing with the things in our lives that have stayed in the dark!
This past Sunday we continued our Self-Care series where we're going to look at some of the Scriptural teachings about how you can be a better you and experience a better self-care as it relates to your mind, body, soul, spirit, and rest in general. This week we addressed some difficult topics pertaining to some of the things in our lives that we try and hide away hoping they’ll just go away. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
Our Self-Care series is off to an incredible start, with a second powerful and convicting message this week, Pastor Robbie is not shying away from the very real issues in our lives! This message surrounded the reality that many people are dealing with either sins or past hurts/struggles that have not been dealt with in their lives. Ps. Robbie said, ‘So we're going to look at what God's Word says about how we can experience freedom from some of the hurts and sins that have marked our lives.’ Ultimately coming down to, if we want to live lives that are honoring and glorifying to God, we need to consciously make efforts to clean out our closets every so often!
The first practical tenet to take away from this message was the truth that God will not heal the things that we continue to keep away from His influence. Beginning in Proverbs 28:13 we see, ‘Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.’ There are things in our lives some in the present, some in the past, and we hide them, we are basically saying, "God, I do not want you to heal this arena of my life." There's an Enemy called Satan who is feeding you the lie that "You can't tell anybody. You need to suffer in isolation alone because if people really knew the real you, they'd reject the real you." It's a lie. The God who's there says, "I'm inviting you to experience the cure," James confirms this further by declaring we should actively confess our transgressions. He says in James 5:16, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” God says with that, along with prayer, you will begin to experience the cure. Confession is the cure. He's inviting you.
The second practical tenet is that to defuse the power these past hurts have in our lives, we have to truly forgive those who wronged us; true forgiveness destroys the oppressive power the event has over us. Hebrews 12: 15 speaks to this saying, ‘See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled…’ - we know that bitterness is poisonous to the soul, and causes a tremendous amount of trouble and turmoil in our lives. Colossians 3:13 gives us the solution to this issue of bitterness from hurts in our lives saying, ‘bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgive each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.’ Ps. Robbie said that ‘The action you need to take is not choosing to forgive yourself; it's choosing to accept God's forgiveness despite the fact that you do not deserve it.’ This forgiveness will lead to you being able to forgive others of things in the past.
The final practical tenet to take away is that there is no situation of past hurt that God cannot wield for His honor and His glory through your life! There's no person who has committed sins and offenses and done such things that God can't write an incredible story through your life, and he wants to write an incredible story through your life; You can be a platform for the power of God. Take the story of the demon-possessed man of Mark chapter 5 verse 18-20 - this restoration that occurs through the saving work of Jesus spoke to so many people in that area; this is exactly what God desires to do through each and every one of us when we surrender to Him! Ps. Robbie concluded with ‘The only way for you to experience healing, whether it's a hurt or a sin hang-up, is for you to reveal and bring others in, for you to release the hurts from your life and allow God to be the one who administers justice for those things and for you to recognize, whatever your story is, God wants to use it if you will let him or you can just let it get lodged.’
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Self-Care - Cleaning Out Your Closet: In our lives, we have all gone through tremendously difficult things and some of those past hurts are still alive in our lives; this does not have to be the case!
Main Scripture Passages: Proverbs 28:13; James 5:16; Hebrew 12:15; Colossians 3:13; Mark 5:18-20
God Will Not Heal What We Continue to Hide: God desires for us to be conformed to the life of His Son Jesus, but he won’t force us - if he want to be healed of our past hurts we have to be open about our struggles.
Defusing Past Hurts Comes Through Forgiveness and Release of Power: The way Scripture says we need to address our hurts in life is very different from the rest of the world, we are to forgive, not destroy; forgiveness, true forgiveness releases the power that hurt has over you
There Is No Past That Cannot Be Used As A Platform For God’s Power If We Let Him: Everyone has these kinds of hangups, but nothing is beyond God’s means’ of restoring you for His honor and His glory; your personal sanctification is a direct testament to believers and non-believers alike!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as Pastor Robbie continues in our Self-Care series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!